Building i5 system - advice needed please!

ajgaj

ajgaj

ajgaj

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12 Jul 2012
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Hey guys im building a pc as follows:

i5-3570k
Gigabyte z77 GA-Z77X-UD3H-WB Motherboard
Asus GTX670 Direct CU II TOP version
Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B 8GB 1600Mhz memory
WD Caviar Black 2TB WD2002FAEX HDD
Samsung 830 series 128GB SSD
Fractal Design Define R3 USB 3.0 Version
and importantly,

Corsair GS700 700W PSU

I have a few questions if anybody has some spare time helping me with:

1. I am building this computer myself for the first time. I understand a lot about computers but I am no expert. Do i literally piece them together using antistatic wrist band and mat? Is there any configuring in the bios or firmware updates i need to do or anything else?
2. Is that 700W PSU big enough for the system requirements?
3. Do you reckon I would need to buy a sound card? I have bought some Corsair sp2500 speakers and listen to music all day. I would like good quality audio and dont mind buying a 40 pounds sound card, but only if the sound will be a lot better?
4. I am going to be overclocking my CPU for the first time. Which cpu cooler would you recommend for under 30 pounds? I've seen good reviews for the Xigmatek Gaia SD1283, ZALMAN CNPS 10X Performa and Zaward Vapor 120. Which one is best, and are there any better for the price?

Many thanks for anyone who helps!!
 
1) I did my first build not that long ago, and things really have moved on. You literally just piece things together, kinda like lego :P everything just fits really. Generally the bioses of today are a lot more understandable, (the Gigabyte one is definitely). You'll need to download drivers and install your operating system, but it's really straightforward, often just a case of going to the manufacturer's website :)

2)700w should be plenty, you might get away with a 600w in fact but I'm no expert... If you're looking to Crossfire/Sli in the future you may want to go 750w or more though, it just depends on what you're going to do.

3)I know many people who don't have sound cards and do fine, I guess it's just how much of an audiophile you are and what quality you want, generally today on-board sound is very good :) If you are getting a card, you can get a good one for around 20-40 quid (Asus Xonar springs to mind).

4)I know many people swear by the Gelid Tranquilo, it depends on your case size and whether you'd like a tower cooler or more sit on top type (for lack of better way of describing it :P ) It seems like you've done your research here though :)

Best of luck with the build :)
 
A few pointers.

You will want to swap the RAM for the low profile stuff or it could have some issues getting it under the CPU cooler
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=my-336-cs&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

for a £30 cpu cooler you may want to consider this. review here.

A sound card will provide better quality than the on-board audio, but I don't know enough about them to offer much assistance.

Building computers is not difficult, read through a few online guides and make sure you have enough space in which to work. Most importantly don't rush, take your time read all the instructions and check all of your connections are in.

 
ajgaj said:
Hey guys im building a pc as follows:
1. I am building this computer myself for the first time. I understand a lot about computers but I am no expert. Do i literally piece them together using antistatic wrist band and mat? Is there any configuring in the bios or firmware updates i need to do or anything else?
Click to expand...

SATA mode to AHCI, memory to XMP, and that's about it. The rest will be at stock and you can take it from there.

When installing windows, make sure of AHCI, change the boot order to optical drive, and unplug the hard drive from the motherboard so it installs everything on SSD.

2. Is that 700W PSU big enough for the system requirements?
Click to expand...

Yes. The full load would be 1/2 of that.

3. Do you reckon I would need to buy a sound card? I have bought some Corsair sp2500 speakers and listen to music all day. I would like good quality audio and dont mind buying a 40 pounds sound card, but only if the sound will be a lot better?
Click to expand...

No need. See how it goes first, but onboard is pretty good (that's what I use).

4. I am going to be overclocking my CPU for the first time. Which cpu cooler would you recommend for under 30 pounds? I've seen good reviews for the Xigmatek Gaia SD1283, ZALMAN CNPS 10X Performa and Zaward Vapor 120. Which one is best, and are there any better for the price?
Click to expand...

Gelid Tranquillo, Hyper 212 Evo, True Spirit 120, Alpenfoehn Matterhorn Pure, CoolerMaster Hyper 612s, True Spirit 140 in order of performance. Quietest are the gelid and the true spirit 140.
 
Wow, only been on this website for a few hours and already got so much help! Thanks guys, one more question though..Ive heard bad things about the Asus customer service. Should I swap the Asus graphics card for the gigabyte gtx670 wind force, as they have similar performance/price? Ive dealt with gigabyte before and they were okay but is Asus that bad? Is it worth it hassle of returning the Asus one, then waiting for the new gigabyte one or are Asus not that much worse than gigabyte customer service?
 
Since you have already have the card I would not bother trying to change it. From what I understand the ASUS warranty is not poor, they are just a bit slow at sorting things out.
 
Fire_fly said:
Since you have already have the card I would not bother trying to change it. From what I understand the ASUS warranty is not poor, they are just a bit slow at sorting things out.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the help. One thing, I see you have Samsung green RAM. I read something about them being good, but the benchmarks say the stated corsair ram is the best. Any reason why you got the Samsung one? And is there any other better than the Samsung or corsair?
 
I chose the Green RAM because it has good overclocking headroom, it will quite easily do 2000MHz. However this didn't really make a large performance increase so I still have it running at stock. Personally I would just stick with the Vengeance stuff as 1600MHz is the sweet spot for Ivybridge. The XMP on the ram will also allow you get the best performance out of your RAM without having to tinker around to much in the bios.
 
ajgaj do you have an email address, wanted to ask you something quickly that's off topic?

Can email me at peerzyboy (at) hotmail [dot] com if you don't wanna post it on the forum.
 
Personally I would steer clear of that psu. There are better ones available personally I'd be looking towards this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

I considered a gs model a while back and after doing a bit of googling I was amazed by how many people seemed to have had bad experiences with the GS line. Not saying they are all bad or even the majority, just saying that the tx650 v2 is a solid long serving psu that most ppl would agree should never fail you....but again I like many above am no expert on PSU's
 
Guys, you mention using xmp on my ram..Im using the low profile ram now, so do I still get xmp? Also, what do you reckon I could over clock to when using one of the suggested cpu coolers? Or do I have to find that out myself by doing it lol?
 
The low profile Vengeance stuff it linked to above supports XMP.

With one of those cooler you should get an overclock of around 4.2GHz maybe a bit more. But it is dependent on many other factors such as the individual motherboard, CPU and how well ventilated the location of the computer is. For example my chip won't overclock stably in BF3 at over 4.2GHz, it will happily do 50 Intel burn test passes but it crashes within 20mins of starting BF3.
 
Jasonst888 said:
Personally I would steer clear of that psu. There are better ones available personally I'd be looking towards this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

I considered a gs model a while back and after doing a bit of googling I was amazed by how many people seemed to have had bad experiences with the GS line. Not saying they are all bad or even the majority, just saying that the tx650 v2 is a solid long serving psu that most ppl would agree should never fail you....but again I like many above am no expert on PSU's
Click to expand...

Thanks guys, also, if im looking to overclock my cpu, ram and graphics card, will a 650w psu be okay? Also what does sata to asci mean lol?
 
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